Shadows
by KarasuKimi
Summary: Memories follow you. Sometimes I delve into them remembering such bittersweet memoirs of my life. They are like shadows, dark imprints of something that was once tangible. Memories are all I have left; they follow me even in death. ItaxKag Oneshot


_Hey There! _

_Yeah I don't even know what to call this...Just kind of a random snippet of a story I kind of wanted to write :) So I guess you read and maybe review? Kay well I hope you enjoy! It's written kind of in Itachi's POV but still in third person. _

_-Kimi_

Pairing: ItachixKagome

* * *

He remembered the first time he saw her.

The scent of old blood stung.

A contorted frail body lying at the bottom of the well, breathing shallow and heart weak. Blood caked cheeks matted with black hair, pale skin torn and broken limbs.

_She was the girl who was broken and unknown._

_**XxX**_

She laid in the safety of his home, unconscious. He waited for her to wake.

He had saved her.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time she laid eyes on him.

They made him stare.

Iridescent blue glazed over with death so near; opened with swollen black lids. All too soon did they close, shielding him as she slipped into the unconscious bliss.

She was the girl with eyes of blue.

_**XxX**_

There was something about her, she was pure but in her chest, was something so tainted.

Such a contrast she was. Delicate but battle worn. Pure but tainted.

He had never seen anything more beautiful.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time she spoke.

Such a sweet and innocent voice. Her pale hands unconsciously reached out for him, he pulled away. He didn't let her touch him. She spoke her name and murmured words of gratitude with self retained irony.

Her words were few before she fell back into the forced dream.

Her name, it fit her well.

She was the girl named Kagome.

_**XxX**_

She was awake now. Her wounds healed fully and she walked outside.

The sun shone on her, something so pure and delicate. She smiled at him and he felt his heart flutter.

He had never felt anything more terrifying.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time he saw her fight.

It was graceful and powerful. Her arrows flew with such power they glowed.

A soft rosette was the color of her strange chakra.

But even with such power she exuded, it felt as if she was holding back.

She was his equal.

_**XxX**_

Months had passed.

She was part of his home now, accepted by his leader and Clan. All who knew her loved her. She was like a light, brilliant and shining and they were all insects, insignificant and annoying, and they all flocked to her.

Yes. She was the light.

But where there is light there is darkness just beyond its reach.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time they were teammates.

Assigned to his squad, she accompanied him not only on the battle field but also in the village. She followed him just as his brother tried to. Except it was different, her presence soothed him.

She was his companion.

_**XxX**_

Months melded into a year or two and now he was high in ranking, as was she. She still accompanied him, never straying. Always beside him. There conversations grew fewer but longer. They seemed to have no use for meaningless words.

They were known in their village and beyond.

Power and enemies come hand in hand.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time she sang.

They laid on the forest floor. Sweat clung to their worn bodies. They had taken much life on that sweet summer night. Blood plastered itself on them.

Laying side by side on the damp grass, he felt her body quake slightly.

She was too emotional, she cried too easily.

His eyes turned to her; she was faced away from him.

She cried too much, he said once. Now he regretted his words.

Her blood soaked body shook as she bit back the sobs.

It was then he heard a soft melody, foreign to him. It was her voice, it cracked and rasped as she sang to take her mind off the murder she committed. It soothed him and kept away the ghosts that would have plagued him.

So she sang to try and erase the deed.

She was his lullaby.

_**XxX**_

Another year passed and the two of them were always together. Never separating, many spoke of how they were lovers. They ignored this and continued their companionship.

They sought each other out she said once and he agreed soundlessly.

They gave one another the camaraderie the other desired and the other needed but never voiced.

She never told him of her past, and he never asked.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time she cried.

She had cried so many times before, but those were just emotional fits that made her eyes water. Ironic, how the first time she cried it was for him.

He had been sent away on another meaningless assignment that only brought bloodshed, this time though he went alone. A first in years.

He was gone for a long while.

The days melded into weeks and he knew she was worried.

The days shined down on him, revealing how alone he truly was.

The nights came and so did the ghosts.

Blood was shed.

This time though, it was innocent.

And this time the ghosts plagued him in day as well as in the night.

He returned, truly haunted.

She looked at him for only a moment and ran to him with relief in her voice and already tearing eyes. One look into his eyes and she knew.

He spent the night with her, hoping she keep the ghosts at bay.

They came.

She came to him in the middle of night, seeing how haunted he was. She knew him all too well. It was then she cried.

Cries erupted painfully from her as she wept for him. He cradled her, as she kept the ghosts at bay.

He never told her what he did, and she never asked.

She was his tears.

_**XxX**_

After that night, he came to her or her to him in the dark.

Each one trying to give solace to the other.

_**XxX**_

He remembered when she confessed her love.

It was a cold night, but the sky was clear and sparkling. The waters of the river reflected the moon's glow.

She had loved him since the beginning, she said. She cried as she said it.

He didn't speak but knew that they could not continue this, this thing they had. He didn't even know what to call it.

He was too dependent on her, he should never have let this happen.

He turned away from her, leaving the cold wind to be her companion in his stead.

She didn't cry then and that made it that much worse.

The ghosts haunted him now and threatened to consume him.

She was his weakness.

_**XxX**_

The world is cruel and unkind; one needs to depend on something. He knew this and yet,

he would rather choose pride over her.

So he left her.

Months passed and the ghosts made him hallow. He was so haunted now.

So he wandered.

He found himself at the place he left her.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time he kissed her.

He found himself by the river.

He saw her.

Staring into the glistening watery depths, her eyes dull and her expression, detached. He saw someone come behind her.

He tensed but watched.

The dark figure appeared. He knew this man well.

He heard his whispered words. He saw the fury in the man's eyes.

The vehement whispers went on in a stream of poetic taunts towards her. Shisui spoke of many things, of how she held him back and how she should rid him and the Clan of herself.

She stood there unaffected by such venomous words. No tears came.

His smooth voiced flowed flawlessly as he slowly hinted to the answer to everyone's problem.

Drown the problem, Shisui said; and let it drift down the river.

Her eyes were still focused on the water's edge as she took a step towards the river.

His body moved on its own.

She watched as he drowned his cousin. She didn't say stop.

She watched as he gave Shisui the same fate his cousin wished upon her. So he wrote the suicide note. He found it ironic that it would seem his closest friend died this way.

She did not cry. He wept for her.

His eyes burned as she kissed away the tears. He kissed her then.

Her lips tasted of blood.

She was his strength.

_**XxX**_

He went home with her that night, wiping away the crimson tears. The moon hung low as she held him close and sang him her lullaby.

The ghosts were kept at bay.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time he touched her.

How beautiful her bare moonlit form was. The soft swell of her breasts and the contours of her body as it dipped slightly to her hips.

Her trembling fingers roamed cautiously across his body, as did his. Their fingers intertwining, grasping frantically then innocently exploring one another. Her soft but labored breaths were sweet, as well as her. Her eyes stared back at him as he entered her, so intense is her gaze.

He feels her body tremble beneath him.

She bites her lip to hold back the sound. He captures her lips at her moment.

Her lips tasted of blood.

She was his release.

_**XxX**_

The morning comes to bring light to her bare back. Her body is wrapped in soft sheets and he strokes her softly, her ivory skin illuminated by the morning sun.

He feels the taint in her chest, whatever kept it at bay, now has weakened. He wants to protect her.

He leaves her now, but plans to return.

_**XxX**_

He remembers when he first realized he loved her_. _

That is how he met _him._

The strongest of his Clan. A man who should be dead. He tells him of the taint in her chest, Madara knows much about her. The man tells him what she is and how he has taken the last shred of purity she had left.

The man also tells him of his new eyes.

He asks how he can free her of this taint; Madara says she will die unless he acquires a way to unseal it.

He feels helpless. That is how he knows.

No one made him feel this way.

She was his beloved.

_**XxX**_

He comes back to her in the dead of night.

The moon bloodstained hung low, no stars glittered, no crickets chirped and no sound was made.

She is not at her home.

He grows anxious to see her. He wants to confess to her. He wants to tell her.

He feels her strange chakra pull at him.

She is at his home.

So he runs.

_**XxX**_

He remembers the first time he confessed his love.

His Clan's district was deathly silent.

He walked the barren streets with the eclipsed moon overhead. His eyes now crimson stained.

He finds himself transfixed as he looks upon the bodies.

Weapons were embedded into buildings, blood trickled from miscellaneous objects and bodies were strewn across the dirt path. Hot blood mixed with the dirt, there was so much of it.

He remembers when he saw her.

Standing over the corpses of his parents.

Her eyes glazed over, her hands red with the murder and her cheeks streaked with tears and blood.

The taint radiates off of her. She is not herself.

She charges at him with a bloodied weapon in hand, he stares and watches unable to move.

She slams him into a wall, she screams like a savage animal. He can't move.

Her eyes are beautiful, filled with so much hatred. She raises the weapon to his throat but steadies the blade before she can take his life.

Her eyes clear and she is herself.

She looks at him and she knows what she has done.

She collapses and begs for death. He cradles her and kisses her forehead, giving her the underserved solace.

He tells her then, he tells her what she has always wanted hear.

She does not cry but screams in anguish and self-hate.

He holds her tightly as she fights him, she screams at him. Grabbing the weapon and plunges it toward her chest to try and carve out the taint that drove her to do this.

He screams at her, telling her she owes it to him to stay alive. She owes him a debt now.

She is silent as they hold onto one another.

She does not cry and neither does he.

He feels someone coming. He hides her.

His brother comes into the room.

He makes his decision. He will not have her be punished for this.

He tells his brother a pathetic excuse for the murder of his Clan and plants the seed for revenge in his mind to ensure her safety.

He would do this for her.

She was his sacrifice.

_**XxX**_

He fled with her, to find a way to rid her of this taint. He met him again.

The man who knew so much about her. They joined him and together they found a way to rid her of this taint.

They needed power to rid her of such a powerful evil, so they sought out the nine sealed beings. This was the key to her salvation.

Slowly more joined.

Years passed and she was kept in hiding as well as Madara. The taint in her chest grew and it hurt to touch her.

It was never to be known she was alive, as far as anyone else knew he had killed her along with the rest of his Clan.

With each powerful entity unsealed they learned more and more of how to free her of this taint and with each unsealing came more enemies.

Because power and enemies come hand in hand.

_**XxX**_

He remembered how she begged.

She longed for death constantly but never asked, but she begged.

She begged him to not kill his brother. She knew all too well he loved his last relative but he would kill him to protect her and so she begged.

And for that he was thankful.

She was his conscience.

_**XxX**_

Years passed and Sasuke had finally rid himself of the snake. He was strong now and his brother was driven by a lie he told him so long ago.

Hate blinded his brother from the truth and that is exactly what he wanted.

The truth was never to be told.

And so his brother sought him out.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first secret he kept from her.

The day he coughed blood was the day he knew his life was nearing its end.

So he kept it from her, knowing it would undo her.

Madara knew. The man who knew so much, told him it was her.

The taint was slowly killing him. Every time he touched her, it killed him.

Madara called it a poison, a miasma.

Of course he did not care and underwent all kinds of treatment just to stay alive.

For her.

She was slowly killing him but she was what kept him alive.

She was to him, his cure.

_**XxX**_

Sasuke found him.

He was weak He felt his lungs heave and his heart thud. The poison worked its way through his body as his brother and him ensnared into a battle.

He felt his lungs heave and cough, blood stained his hand.

He would not be returning to her…

It was finished.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time he smiled.

Ironically it was when he died.

He remembered her in his last moments and realized he lived a good life. No matter how terrible things were, she was always there and couldn't have asked for more.

So he smiled, knowing that this was a good death. His life was hers and it was only fitting that she take it.

His body was dead already, though Sasuke would never know this.

She was his happiness.

_**XxX**_

Madara had gotten his hands on his brother first. The boy lay there, broken and unconscious.

His brother stirred and the man who knew so much told a story.

_**XxX**_

He remembered the first time he laughed.

He was nothing now. A spirit unable to move on as he watched and observed a life he was no longer bound to.

Madara told an even more ridiculous lie than he had ever said to his brother. He had taken many precautions to ensure that the man who knew so much did not speak of his knowledge, but the man had found a way to speak with Sasuke.

It was an elaborate tale, showing him in the most altruistic light and how he had sacrificed so much. The man told of how he killed so many…

How he killed his friends, family and his lover.

He was grateful to the man for keeping the secret. Though Madara's intentions were revealed as the tale progressed. The man who knew so much, held a grudge towards his former village.

The story was elaborate and ingenious. It showed him as the ideal self-sacrificing brother, as well as kept the secret and made his brother's hatred turn to their former home.

And so she remained unknown to his brother.

Sasuke would never know the truth.

She was his secret.

_**XxX**_

She found his body, bloodied and broken.

It was raining as she was brought to her knees by the sight of his corpse.

_**XxX**_

He remembered her screams.

That was something he would never forget.

He remembered how she clutched his body, grasping desperately at his blood soaked clothes and how she tried to heal even though he knew she couldn't and even if could and maybe bring him back, it wouldn't.

She did not cry.

Her screams turned to anger then to begging.

It burned his soul.

She was his insanity.

_**XxX**_

Now his brother sits at bar.

Drinking himself into unconscious bliss. A woman sits beside him.

Her eyes.

They made him stare.

_**XxX**_

He remembers the first time he screamed.

She sat beside his brother now. They sipped sake idly as she talked innocently.

He saw the look in her eyes. He knew what it was she wanted, vengeance. She wanted to avenge him. He knew that look. He knew it all too well, a young boy once wore it. An avenger he called himself. He saw his brother.

He saw the look in his brother's eyes. He knew that look; a boy from long ago had the same look when a pair of iridescent blue stared back at him. He saw himself.

His brother was a fool.

Hatred burned in her heart. The taint had taken over her now.

It is a lie, He screamed.

But she didn't hear him.

He watched as they both left…

She looked back at him and he wondered what look he had.

It was then he knew, he knew what she saw. She saw herself.

She turned away.

_She was the girl who was broken and unknown._

_**XxX**_

* * *

Well that was kind of twisted. Itachi is like Kagome, Sasuke is like Itachi and Kagome is like Sasuke :) Well I hope you get it if not and it really bothers you...review! Kay!So tell me what you think, it's kind of random but i needed to write so I kind of just started writing and didn't stop. :) I hope you review!

-Kimi


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